Agoraphobic Nosebleed
Arc

Don’t be prejudiced, trust me.

I suppose that anyone reading this review who also knows Agoraphobic Nosebleed knows what they usually produce... well, forget about it for today.

They returned to the scene a few days ago with this EP titled "Arc", comprising 3 tracks.

Scott Hull, Jay Randall & Co. thought that change is good from time to time. This is the first in a series of 4 mini albums that would represent the musical vision and personal influences of each member (in this case, the singers): the first member to be questioned is Kat Katz.

This record theoretically features only Kat Katz (vocals, lyrics) and the mastermind Scott Hull (music).

As usual, they’ve decided to punish us: no targeted rifle shot to the brain this time, however, the punishment is a slow, painful, and bloody torture.

The 3 tracks are an amalgam of sounds from the Doom Metal territory (and derivatives) with vocal styles more typical of Death Metal.

Sabbathian influences incoming in 3... 2... 1...

"Not A Daughter" unsheathes a dazzling Sludge riff, wrapped in that "je ne sais quoi" of dirt characteristic of that sound coming from the swamps. It promises well immediately.

The sky turns black when it’s "Deathbed"’s turn, making ANb seem like Burning Witch (perhaps just a bit faster) for most of the song, then shouting its torment at full lungs, electrically charging the atmosphere.

Following that dark path, we find ourselves in front of the huge rock fragment that is "Gnaw", early symptoms of bruxism just as our hearing meets that sense of oppression unleashed by the nihilistic wickedness emitted by this piece. Never heard a more masculine scream/growl from a female singer.

Always excellent work with the drum machine, which doesn’t make one miss a flesh-and-blood drummer.

Interesting to see how a group tries to innovate and take on new challenges, even in seemingly opposite musical fields.